Iran files charges over BBC report on teen girl allegedly killed by security forces in 2022 protests

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iranian prosecutors have filed criminal charges against activists and journalists following a BBC report that alleged security forces “sexually assaulted and killed” a 16-year-old girl during the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Nika Shakarami’s death also sparked widespread outrage. In Shakarami’s case, authorities said she died after falling from a tall building, something immediately disputed by her mother who said her daughter had been beaten. The BBC report — published this week and relying on what it described as a report written for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — says Shakarami was detained by undercover agents who molested her, then killed her with batons and electronic stun guns after she struggled against the assault.